Guide to the Swedish income tax return if you work in Denmark and live in Sweden

Last updated 2025-03-13

If you work in Denmark and live in Sweden, you must file tax returns in both Denmark and Sweden. Here you will find information about what you as a cross-border commuter must include in your Swedish tax return and how to handle the return if you have been working remotely.

This information is for EU-citizens only

Tax residence and declaration in Sweden

If you live in Sweden and have income from Denmark, you must complete a tax return in Sweden in addition to your Danish annual tax return, as Sweden is your tax residence.

Many people think that tax residence has to do with where you work and mainly pay your taxes, but this is not the case. Your tax residence is usually in the country where you live. Even if you work full-time in Denmark and pay tax on your income there, you must also fill in a tax return in Sweden. As a resident of Sweden, you have full tax liability.

This means that you must declare all your worldwide income in your Swedish tax return, regardless of whether you have already paid tax on it in another country. Your salary from Denmark is usually - but not always - exempt from Swedish tax. However, capital income is taxed in Sweden.

Read more about how to declare some common types of income when you live in Sweden and work in Denmark further down in this article.

From January 1, 2025, a new tax agreement between Sweden and Denmark, the so-called Öresund Tax Agreement, will apply. The agreement applies to taxes on income from the income year 2025, i.e. the income you declare in May 2026.

For the declaration in 2025, income year 2024, the rules of the old Öresund Tax Agreement are applicable.

Have you worked remotely in 2024?

If you have worked remotely in 2024, your salary from Denmark may be taxed in Sweden.

As an employee of a private Danish employer, the Øresund Tax Agreement applies, which means that you pay tax on your salary in your main country of work, Denmark, if you have worked there at least half of the working days during a three-month period, and the rest of the time at your home in Sweden or on temporary business trips. Note that holidays, paid sick days and part of a working day in Denmark count as full working days in Denmark. If you do not fulfill the requirement of working more than 50 % in Denmark, the Øresund Tax Agreement does not apply to you.

You will then need to calculate an apportionment of your salary based on the number of active working days in Denmark and Sweden during the period when you were not covered by the Øresund Tax Agreement. During this period, salary for working days in Denmark will be taxed in Denmark, and salary for working days in Sweden and on business trips in countries other than Denmark will be taxed in Sweden.

If you are employed by a Danish public sector employer, the Øresund Tax Agreement of 2003 does not apply to you. If you have worked at home in Sweden, you must calculate an allocation of your salary based on the actual working time in Denmark and Sweden respectively. This means that you will be taxed in Denmark for the days you have worked in Denmark and in Sweden for the days you have worked from home.

You can calculate the total number of working days during the year and how many of those days you worked in Denmark and Sweden. Divide the number of working days in Sweden by the total number of working days and multiply it by the annual salary. You have now calculated the salary for work done in Sweden.

As you are not taxed on the remote working days in Denmark, this means that you need to adjust the income in the Danish annual tax return. You can find more information in our article on declaring tax when working in Denmark.

Important dates in Sweden 2025

You can log in to skatteverket.se and view your tax return from the 8^th of March. If you have a digital mailbox, you will also receive your tax return as a PDF-file.
If you do not have a digital mailbox, you will have a paper declaration sent to your home between March 17 and April 15.
The e-service Income Declaration 1 will open on March 18. You can declare digitally with your e-identification, regardless of whether you have received your declaration digitally or on paper.
The last day to declare is May 2nd.

Convert currencies

In the Swedish declaration, all data must be entered in Swedish kronor.

Use the exchange rate on the payment date or the Riksbank's average exchange rate for 2024 (1 DKK = 1.53268 SEK).

Common fields in the Swedish Income Tax Return

Salary from Denmark that is not taxed in Sweden

If you have worked at your workplace in Denmark and paid tax on your salary there, you do not normally have to pay tax on the same salary in Sweden. This is because the income is exempt from Swedish tax according to the tax agreement. Different rules apply for artists and flying personnel - read more under Salary from Denmark that is taxed in Sweden.

Even if you do not have to pay tax on the salary in Sweden, you must tick that you have had foreign income under section 17, “Other information”.

Under "Other" you provide information about:

type of income, e.g. salary + name of employer
which country the income comes from
in which country the work was performed
the amount of income in DKK and converted to SEK
whether the income is tax-free in Sweden, for example, because you have worked on site in Denmark according to the Øresund Agreement.

Salary from Denmark that is taxed in Sweden

There are some situations where your salary and benefits from Denmark are taxed in Sweden. This is the case if, for example, you have worked as an artist or as a flight attendant.

It is also the case if you have worked in Sweden on behalf of your Danish employer and the Øresund Agreement does not apply. Read more about how to calculate the correct income under the heading "Have you worked remotely in 2024?"

First, convert the income to be taxed in Sweden to Swedish kronor.

If you are covered by Danish social security, enter the income converted to SEK in box 1.5: "Andra pensionsgrundande inkomster". If you are covered by Swedish social security, enter the income in box 1.1: "Lön förmåner, sjukpenning m.m."

In box 17 "Övriga upplysningar" you must tick that you have had income from abroad.

In the field "Övrigt" you must provide an explanation of the income.

Enter:

type of income + name of employer
which country the income comes from
amount of income in DKK and converted to SEK
where the work was performed.
If you have worked both in Denmark and Sweden for the same employer, you must also enter the total number of working days + how many days you have worked in Denmark and Sweden.

If you have worked as an artist and have also been taxed in Denmark, you must also request settlement (avräkning) of foreign tax. Provide details of your income and the paid foreign tax under section 17, Additional Information (Övriga upplysningar).

NOTE! If you have an employer-administered pension scheme in Denmark, in some cases you must include both the employer's and your own contributions to the occupational pension in the basis for the taxable salary in the Swedish tax return. This is the case, for example, if the Danish labour market pension is classified as an endowment, ie capital insurance in Sweden (e.g. 53 A insurance). If you are unsure which amount to include in your tax return, explain this under " Övriga upplysningar ".

You can find more information about the Swedish tax return in the Swedish Tax Agency's tax return guide.

Sick leave, parental leave or unemployment benefits from Denmark

Have you received Danish social benefits such as sickness or maternity benefits from Udbetaling Danmark or a Danish unemployment insurance fund? These are taxed in both Sweden and Denmark, and you can receive credit for the Danish tax in your Swedish tax.

Convert the gross amount to Swedish kronor and enter it in section 1.5 "Andra inkomster som inte är pensionsgrundande".

Tick under item 17 " Övriga upplysningar " that you have had income from abroad. If you have paid tax on the income in Denmark, you must also request settlement of foreign tax (avräkning).

Under "Övrigt", enter information about the type of income, for example, parental leave from Denmark, the amount of income paid and foreign tax in DKK converted to SEK. If you do not know how much the final Danish tax will be when you submit your tax return, you must state this on the tax return and complete the tax return as soon as you know the amount.

Pension payments from Denmark

From March 2025, you will be able to see your pension income on skatteverket.se. The pension income is also included in the specification for Income Declaration 1, which is included with your tax return.

If you receive pension from Denmark, you will in most cases also be taxed on it in Sweden. You must include the pension income in your Swedish tax return.
You should convert the income to Swedish kronor and fill in the amount in either box 1.3 for state pension, ATP and occupational pension or 1.4 for private pension. Provide details under section 17, Other Information (Övriga upplysningar).

Calculate foreign income at skatteverket.se (in Swedish)

If you have also paid Danish tax on your pensions, you have to request settlement (avräkning) for paid foreign tax under section 17, Other information. State how much tax you have paid in Denmark converted to Swedish kronor. You can receive credit for Danish tax up to the amount that corresponds to the Swedish tax on your Danish pension income.

If you do not know the amount of the final Danish tax when you submit your tax return, you must state this on the return and complete it as soon as you know the amount.

Yeild tax on Danish pension plans

Do you have a Danish pension insurance or endowment insurance?

If you live in Sweden and are entitled to a Danish labour market pension in the form of pension insurance or endowment insurance, you must report the value of the insurance as a basis for yield tax in your tax return (box 9.1 or box 9.2).

If you have paid PAL-tax in Denmark for your pension insurance, you are entitled to a deduction of the Swedish dividend tax. Provide details of your income and the paid foreign tax under section 17, Additional Information (Övriga upplysningar).

Do you have a Danish pension savings account that is not in the form of an insurance?

If you have a pension savings account through your Danish employer, you do not have to pay Swedish tax on the capital income on your pension account.

However, if you have a private pension savings account in Denmark, you must declare capital income, like interests and dividends, in the Swedish tax return. See under the headings Interest income and Other capital income.

If you have paid Danish PAL tax on the private pension savings account, you are entitled to settlement of foreign tax.

Provide details of your income and the paid foreign tax under section 17, Additional Information (Övriga upplysningar).

Interest income

If you live in Sweden, you must declare your interest income in Sweden. If you have had interest income from a Danish bank, you must therefore add the income converted to SEK in box 7.2.

Provide details under section 17, Other information "Övriga upplysningar".

You should not be taxed on the interest income in Denmark.

Other types of capital income

If you live in Sweden, you must pay tax on all capital income in Sweden. This includes, for example, income from shares and income from renting and selling a private home.

Denmark has the right to tax dividends from Danish shares at a maximum of 15%. Under section 17, Other information, tick that you request credit for foreign tax and state how much tax you have paid in Denmark.

Interest expenses

If you live in Sweden, you have unlimited tax liability and you are entitled to deduct your interest expenses in Swedish taxation, even if you choose to use the Danish cross-border rules and deduct the interest expenses in your Danish tax return. Interests that you have paid to Swedish loan providers are normally preprinted under the section 8.1 in the Income Declaration 1.